Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am particularly interested in the role of the bystander. We know from the submissions that approximately 90% of these incidents have bystanders. Empowering the bystander to make an intervention is really important.

It is to teach young people that strong people stand up for themselves, but the strongest people stand up for others and that, to a certain extent, if one is neutral in situations of injustice one is choosing the role of the perpetrator and giving the bully permission to continue being a bully. On that note, can Dr. Noctor make any suggestions on how we can empower the bystander and make it safe for him or her to stand up and intervene? Ultimately, that would be helpful to both the victim of bullying and the perpetrator.